Joey Barton believes Ipswich Town can ill-afford to drop any more points in their race for promotion from League One as Bristol Rovers take on the Tractor Boys at the Mem looking to reverse their own run of poor form.
The Gas have lost their last four league games to fall from eighth to 14th in the standings and firmly keep in check any aspirations of challenging for a play-off place, but Rovers' pre-season expectations - at least, externally - were never quite so lofty; survival first, consolidation in the division next, and then potentially a run at something more ambitious.
Ipswich, on the other hand, have only promotion to aim for, and preferably automatic, possessing the largest playing budget in the league after considerable financial backing from American-based investment group Gamechanger since they purchased a majority stake in the club in April 2021.
But after taking seven points from a possible 18 in 2023, find themselves third in the table, six points behind Sheffield Wednesday in second place and a gap continuing to widen, making each game increasingly vital for Kieran McKenna’s side to win.
From Barton’s perspective, while conscious his team need to put on a performance in front of a home crowd growing increasingly disgruntled with results, he has labelled the contest a free hit, albeit well aware his squad have tended to perform positively against the heavyweights of the division, particularly at the Mem.
“There’s a little bit of a gap opening up (at the top), they can’t afford to slip up at this point,” Barton said, of Ipswich. “There’s a different pressure on them now than there was when we went to Portman Road earlier on in the season.
“With the greatest of respect, they’re sides where we kind of get a free one, as a newly promoted team, based on their spend.
“We’re in our stadium and we’re a wounded animal and I can’t wait to get in that stadium and get after them because we haven’t won four on the spin, but there’s an absurd mindset that we like to take on the big boys.”
Of the current top six, Rovers have taken points against Plymouth, Wednesday and Bolton but all three games were draws, while they suffered heavy defeats at Barnsley, Derby and Ipswich earlier in the season.
Nevertheless, despite the Gas struggling for points since the turn of the year, and with the previously-prolific supply line of goals - one in their last five games in all competitions - having dried up, Barton insists there is sufficient confidence within the group to claim a result against tonight’s visitors.
That does, however, come with a caveat as he continues to feel aggrieved at decisions that have seemingly gone against his side, and consistently fallen in favour of the opposition, the most recent being the sending off of Ryan Loft during the 1-0 defeat to Lincoln City on Saturday.
“It depends what the officials decide to do… if they decide to help the opponent out like they have done,” Barton added. “Hopefully we get a square go. We can beat anybody - we know that - we can beat absolutely anybody, but if the referee and officiating team don’t call it square then you’re up against it because you’re competing against the invisible enemy.”
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